Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Peppermint Popcorn Bark

It is finally Christmas baking time at my house. I just finished a big batch of goodies to send off to my Dad's office in San Antonio. I've been sending a big goodie box for several years. It takes a lot of work, but it gives my Dad major brownie points with the wholesale account room in the home office.

This peppermint popcorn bark was one of the new treats that I included in this year's goodie box. It is a Christmas version of Monster Munch. I didn't get to eat much of this first batch because it was for other people, but the little bit I did taste was great! I am planning on making another batch of this later this week for our house.

Flavored popcorn snacks are turning into one of my favorite treats to make. They are so easy to make and they are always a hit with everyone. This recipe makes a ton. This would be great bagged up for teachers or neighbors and co-workers.

Place popcorn in a very large bowl - the biggest one you have. Pour crushed candy canes on top of the popcorn. (I crush my candy canes in the food processor - it is quick and it pulverizes the candy canes!) Melt almond bark according to instructions on the package. Add the peppermint extract or oil to the almond bark and pour over popcorn. Stir until all the popcorn is coated. Pour popcorn on wax paper and allow to harden. Once the popcorn has hardened, break into pieces and enjoy!

The bowl is made by tag limited. I just recently found one on amazon. Mine is a small dip bowl and the antlers are dip spreaders. Both of them come out. It's called a Merry Moose bowl and not anything to do with a reindeer. (=

Yeah...I had never heard of "Almond Bark" which is apparently just melting chocolate (white or dark/original) and it's probably a regional thing. Usually if you call something almond bark, it's the chocolate with chopped almonds in it...so I was so confused. You can get white chocolate disc melts at craft stores or candy supply stores (Michael's has them in their candy/baking section. Other colors too!)

Am I the only one that struggled with this recipe?? I melted the almond bark as instructed. Then, I put my teaspoon of peppermint extract in.... It made the almond bark harden again!! No amount of heat or time in the microwave would get it back to it's creamy consistency. What did I do wrong?!?

kristina - you could have overheated the almond bark (I've done it before) - it will get super hard if you overheat it. The almond bark will seize up a bit when you put the extract in, but just pour it over the popcorn and stir it around. It will coat the popcorn just fine. You could also use peppermint oil - the almond bard won't seize at all with the peppermint oil. (I buy a new bottle of peppermint oil every year just for this recipe)

I just made it and it turned out perfect! I used one cup of regular popcorn in our popper, generic vanilla candy coating, and no peppermint oil as I am too cheap, lol. I'll be trying it out on my coworkers tomorrow and if it disappears, this is my gift for friends, etc.

I made this tonight and i had the same problem! The almond bark got hard and chunky looking as soon as I added the peppermint extract. I read the back of the almond bark package and it says that if you add any liquid it will harden the melted almond bark. So, i had a play-dough consistency almond mark mixture and i mixed it with my popcorn using my hands, because it was impossible with a spoon. It turned out fine and tasted great!

okay, so... I feel really stupid asking this question but, where can I buy the peppermint oil/ extract? I was looking online at Meijer... and it gave me ONE result... in it's bath and lotion department... and I don't think its the right one... is it? I'm so confused. I'm hoping to shop for the ingredients tomorrow. A little help please?

Cyn - you can find the peppermint oil/extract in the baking isle at the grocery store and Wal-Mart. It will be with the vanilla. You can also find it in the cake decorating section of Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

I just made up a bunch of this for Christmas presents for my husbands employees...we made the white almond bark and peppermint in one batch, then made another batch of oreos and white almond bark...and then went for it all with a batch of chocolate almond bark, oreos and peppermint candy!! It's the best one..I had to stop eating it to package it to give away...but I do think everything is better in chocolate!

I thought when reading over the recipe that it would end up being too pepperminty. Boy, was I wrong! I made a batch this morning. I ended up using 4 bags of popcorn. ONLY because the plain popcorn I found was bagged in the new microwaveable pop-up bowls, which are smaller than normal microwaveable bags. The finished product was the PERFECT blend of salty, sweet, & minty! I made it with the intentions of giving to my neighbors & trust me, it ended up being very hard to give it away! I kept a bag for myself & hope it lasts til my hubby makes it home from work! This has automatically made the list of "Must-make candy at Christmas"

I just made two batches one with white and the other chocolate almond bark. They both are so good. I just hope it will make it our party tomorrow. Thanks for sharing Stephanie. I will be making this every year! And I agree, it is very addicting!

How have I managed to miss out on this yummy yummy treat??? My neighbor just brought a big batch over as part of her Christmas goodies that she makes each year and it is awesome!! I googled it to find out how she made it & found your site. I'm going to be making a big batch of this tomorrow because we've already finished the bag that we received only about 30 minutes ago!!

I haven't been able to find the almond bark. I do have the white chocolate to try, but I also happened to come across the peppermint bark in the baking aisle and thought I'd give that a try as well. I am curious if that plus the oil/extract might be peppermint overkill, but I plan on trying a small batch with and and without to see how it goes.

I made this yesterday for our New Year's Eve party. Everyone loved it and several people requested the recipe! I crushed mints instead of candy canes and used regular popcorn popped in a paper bag instead of the store-bought kind. Thanks for the recipe! It was delicious!

Found this on Pinterest & just made some. I discovered that I need a MUCH BIGGER bowl than the biggest one that I've currently got. But my granddaughter had great fun pounding the candy canes with a hammer! Now we're waiting for it to harden (but we've gone into the kitchen several times for a taste already!). Thanks for sharing!